In 1971, the Perron family moved into a historic farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, searching for their dream home. What they found instead was a nightmare. Strange noises, ghostly figures, and chilling encounters quickly turned their lives upside down. Tonight, we dive into the terrifying true story behind the Conjuring House, separating fact from fiction. Was the Perron family haunted by restless spirits—or something far more sinister? Tune in as we uncover the hidden truth of one of New England’s most infamous hauntings.

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Sources:

Perron, Andrea. House of Darkness House of Light: The True Story. Vol. 1, AuthorHouse, 2011.

Perron, Andrea. House of Darkness House of Light: The True Story. Vol. 2, AuthorHouse, 2013.

Perron, Andrea. House of Darkness House of Light: The True Story. Vol. 3, AuthorHouse, 2014.

"The Conjuring House: Is it a True Story?" Providence Journal, 17 Oct. 2023, https://bit.ly/3EConjuring.

CBS News. "The Conjuring" House Owner to Sue Warner Bros. 28 Oct. 2015, https://bit.ly/3ConjuringSuit.

US Ghost Adventures. The Conjuring House: Rarely Told True Story. 6 Mar. 2024, https://bit.ly/3ConjuringTrue.

The True Story of the Only Real Haunting at The Conjuring House." YouTube, History vs. Hollywood, https://youtu.be/jUhl-XQHeiE.

Dive into the spellbinding world of Laurie Cabot, Salem’s official witch and one of modern witchcraft’s most iconic figures. In this episode of Weirder After Dark, we uncover her journey from an artist to a groundbreaking spiritual leader who brought witchcraft into the mainstream. Explore her rituals, her influence on Salem’s identity, and the controversies that followed her rise. Whether you’re a skeptic or a believer, this story enchants you.

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Have weird New England Stories?

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Sources:

Heyward, Jasmine. "How Salem’s First Witch Shop Started a Movement." Boston Globe, Oct. 31, 2017.

Laurie Cabot Official Website. Copyright © 2013, 2022. https://lauriecabot.com.

"Laurie Cabot." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_Cabot.

Neuhaus, Cable. "Salem's Official Witch, Laurie Cabot, Finds Grave Errors in Eastwick." People, June 29, 1987.

Aury, Mat. "The True Story of the Witch Who Solved a Murder." Patheos, Jan. 8, 2019; updated Jan. 12, 2020.

Mehren, Elizabeth. "The Trials of Being a Witch." Los Angeles Times, Oct. 31, 1991.

Cabot, Laurie. The Power of the Witch: The Earth, the Moon, and the Magical Path to Enlightenment, 1990.

Cabot, Laurie, and Tim Cowan. Love Magic, 1992.

Cabot, Laurie. Celebrate the Earth: A Year of Holidays in the Pagan Tradition, 1994.

Cabot, Laurie. The Witch in Every Woman: Reawakening the Magical Nature of the Feminine to Heal, Protect, Create, and Empower, 1997.

Cabot, Laurie, Penny Cabot, and Christopher Penczak. Laurie Cabot's Book of Shadows, 2015.

Did you know New England was once gripped by vampire hysteria? In the 19th century, communities across the region exhumed their dead, fearing that the undead were spreading a mysterious illness. This week, we’re diving into the bizarre history of New England’s vampire panic. From spine-tingling graveyard rituals to the tragic tales of families driven to desperation, we’re uncovering the truth behind this eerie chapter in folklore. Was it just superstition, or could there be more to the story? Join the gang as we dig up the chilling details—because it always gets weirder, after dark.

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Have weird New England Stories?

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Sources:

Tucker, A. (2012, October). The great New England vampire panic. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-new-england-vampire-panic-36482878/

Bills, J. (2022, January). New England's vampire history: Legends and hysteria. Yankee Magazine, NewEngland.com.

Ponti, C. (2019, October). When New Englanders blamed vampires for tuberculosis deaths. History.com. Retrieved from https://www.history.com

Chandle, N. (2024, July). The New England vampire panic was very real and very deadly. HowStuffWorks.

D'Agostino, T. (2010). A history of vampires in New England. [Publisher if known].

Charles River Editors. (2022, August). The Mercy Brown incident: The controversial history of the search for vampires in 19th-century Rhode Island.

March 5 1873, started as any typical day for the Hontvet family. Then the wind blew in a different direction, the wrong direction, a direction that set off a series of events that would lead to the gruesome murder of several women. In this episode, The Gang unravels the story of the Smuttynose murders.

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References:

3/9/2022, Isles of Shoals Murders | Horror on Smuttynose Island, by Mark Bastoni

Smuttynose Island, Wikipedia

5/7/24, The Chilling Tale of the Smuttynose Axe Murders in Maine, by Megan at 97.5 WOKQ

https://www.ishra.org/about-isles/smuttynose

1873 State of Maine v. Louis Wagner (Smuttynose Island Murders)

The Atlantic, May 1875, A Memorable Murder, By Celia Thaxter

The Smuttynose Island Murders | Unsolved , Dark Curiosities

In this episode of Weirder After Dark, it’s time for Whispers After Dark: 2 Tales, 1 Lie! We’re diving into two chilling listener-submitted stories and one deviously crafted lie (props to our imagination!). Sean shares a soul drilling ghost story, a cryptid that's 'all leg', and witchy tale from Granbury, CT.

Meanwhile, Chris, Cathy, and our listeners try to uncover the truth. Can you figure out which stories are real and which ones are fake?

Join the fun, and let us know how you did! Share your guesses and thoughts on Instagram, Reddit, or Facebook—search @weirderafterdark.

Have your own creepy New England tale? We’d love to hear it! Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠ , and you may be featured in a future episode.

Tucked away on the rocky shores of Gloucester, Massachusetts, lies a castle that seems out of place, as though it were transported from another time and place. This European-style Medieval castle is more than just a stunning piece of architecture—it's the home of John Hays Hammond Jr., a genius inventor, and the site of a passionate, yet tragic love story. But the real mystery? The castle is said to be haunted by restless spirits, with countless reports of strange happenings and ghostly encounters that still echo through its stone walls.

In this episode, we’ll take you through the fascinating history of Hammond Castle, from its creation as a personal sanctuary of love and invention to the chilling tales of mediumship and paranormal activity that have followed its builder and his family. Was it truly a place of innovation and romance—or is something darker at play within its haunted halls?

Join us for the enchanted story of Hammond Castle, where the line between history and the supernatural blurs.

And remember, it always gets a little Weirder, After Dark.

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Have weird New England Stories?

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Sources:

Hammond Castle. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammond_Castle.

Dandola, John. The Ghosts of Hammond Castle. Tory Corner Editions, 2001.

John Hays Hammond Jr. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hays_Hammond_Jr..

John Hays Hammond. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hays_Hammond.

Dandola, John. Living in the Past, Looking to the Future: The Biography of John Hays Hammond Jr. Quincannon Publishing Group, 2004.

Behind the glamorous legacy of the Kennedy family lies a tragic and nearly forgotten story. Rosemary Kennedy, the eldest sibling of the famous clan, was once full of promise—but a botched lobotomy left her silenced and erased from history. In this episode, we unravel the hidden, heartbreaking tale of Rosemary’s life, her family’s shocking secret, and the decision that altered her fate forever. Dive into a tragedy that was kept in the shadows for decades—one that most of the world still doesn’t know about.

And remember, it always gets a little Weirder, After Dark.

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Have weird New England Stories?

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Sources:

On the night of September 3rd, 1965, Exeter, New Hampshire, became the unlikely backdrop to one of the most chilling UFO encounters in New England's history. As residents were going about their evening, a series of bizarre lights in the sky turned the town’s peaceful atmosphere into something straight out of a nightmare. A blood-red glow illuminated the night, leaving people paralyzed in fear and wonder. Was it a military experiment? A visitor from another world?

In this episode, we dive into the eerie details of the Exeter Incident, where multiple eyewitnesses, including police officers, reported seeing strange lights and unidentified flying objects. Join Sean, Cathy, and Chris as they unravel the mystery of what really happened that night and why the town of Exeter will never be the same. Could this be New England’s most convincing UFO encounter? Tune in to find out—and remember, things always get a little weirder after dark.

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Have weird New England Stories?

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Sources:

John G. Fuller, "Incident in Exeter," True Magazine, August 1966 Edition, Yumpu Link.

John G. Fuller, "Outer-Space Ghost Story," Look magazine, February 22, 1966, pp. 36–38.

NICAP, "The 1966 UFO Chronology," NICAP.org, 1966

Ray Fowler, "The Exeter, NH/Muscarello Case," NICAP, 1965.

SeacoastNH.com, "The Incident at Exeter High," SeacoastNH.com.

"Unidentified Flying Objects: Hearing Before the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives," Eighty-ninth Congress, Second Session, April 5, 1966.

Here at Weirder After Dark we look into many different strange stories and claims, these include UFO's, mythical creatures or cryptids, ghosts and the paranormal, curses and cults, legends, myths, and out-of-place artifacts. Well, what if I told you I found a local area where all these topics come together in one very specific place? Join us as we explore the high strangeness that is the Bridgewater Triangle.

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Email us at

[email protected]

References:

Bridgewater Triangle, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,

Inside The Bridgewater Triangle, The Alleged Paranormal Vortex Of Southern Massachusetts

By Donna Sarkar | Edited By John Kuroski

Published December 12, 2022

Updated June 17, 2024

What is the Bridgewater Triangle anyway? A look at the dark and paranormal tales of this

'Window area of unexplained occurrences'Susannah SudboroughTaunton Gazette published

10/11/20

Legions of America the Bridgewater triangle

Kathy Weiser-Alexander/Legends of America, updated July 2021.

Mysterious America: The Ultimate Guide to the Nation's Weirdest Wonders, Strangest Spots,

and Creepiest Creatures Paperback – Illustrated, April 24, 2007, by Loren Coleman (Author)

In this episode of Weirder After Dark, it’s time for Whispers After Dark: 2 Tales, 1 Lie! We’re diving into two chilling listener-submitted stories and one deviously crafted lie (props to our imagination!). Cathy shares a goosebump-inducing ghost story and two cryptid encounters that will leave you questioning everything. Meanwhile, Chris, Sean, and our listeners try to uncover the truth. Can you figure out which stories are real and which ones are fake?

Join the fun, and let us know how you did! Share your guesses and thoughts on Instagram, Reddit, or Facebook—search @weirderafterdark.

Have your own creepy New England tale? We’d love to hear it! Email us at [email protected] , and you may be featured in a future episode.